Sunday, July 29, 2007

I Should Have Known Better

I admit – I’m weak. I do things I shouldn’t do, things I know that will just cause frustration.

And yet, I can’t help myself. I just have to read what the Cub Fans are saying over the Internets, and listen to the post-game call-in show on WGN radio.

So last night, I’m looking over the comments on one of Sully’s posts at the Chicagosports baseball blog. Some folks were still taking swipes at Sully for his whining last week (kudos to those commenters). But that was followed by someone griping that what we need is a third baseman, because Aramis Ramirez isn’t “clutch” enough.

That would be the same A-Ram whose 16 dingers are second on the team, and whose 65 RBIs lead the team. None of those came in the clutch?

Ramirez is second to Derrek Lee in batting average and OPS, and his .550 slugging is tops on the roster. Not “clutch” enough, I guess.

Good to see that blaming the team’s best players for all that team’s failures (real or imagined) isn’t confined to the Bronx…

I called on my vast reservoir of patience and dismissed this guy as a dope. But today, it was a little more difficult.

After this afternoon’s thrilling victory in Cincy, WGN radio’s post-game show took calls from the fans. The first caller said that the Cubs needed to make a deal to get a starting pitcher to take Rich Hill (113 K, .227 BAA) or Sean Marshall’s (3.10 ERA, .243 BAA) spot in the rotation.

Fortunately, the guy in the studio showed some semblance of sense today, and wondered just who was available that was appreciably better than either Hill or Marshall. Granted, those guys aren’t making anyone forget Sandy Koufax or Warren Spahn, but come on – how many pitchers out there are throwing that well? And are any of them available in a deal that wouldn’t cost us our entire farm system, plus all their first born children?

*sigh* The old adage claims that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. If that’s true, I’m insane whenever I read the message boards. Or turn on the radio…